This paper presents a parametric study on the impact of solar cells at the building 2
envelope on the generated power, energy consumption, comfort conditions (interior 3
temperature, relative humidity, discomfort hours, and lighting), and CO2 emissions 4
within a building. It considers the cell position on the facade (cell inside window, 5
two cells outside the window), orientation direction (north, east, south, west), and 6
location (wall, roof). The study is performed under the meteorological conditions in 7
the city of New Borg El Arab, Alexandria, Egypt. The numerical solution of the 8
physical model is solved using the Design-Builder software and is validated through 9
an experiment. The results reveal that solar cells on the facade and roof decrease the 10
annual energy consumption inside the facility by approximately 15% and 40%, 11
respectively, compared to a facility without cells. A cell installed on the roof facing 12
south has the highest annual generated power. For a solar cell on the wall, a cell 13
facing south produces the highest annual generated power and a cell facing north 14
produces the lowest. The temperature inside the facility is lower when the solar cells 15
are installed, and a cell facing south provides comfortable interior conditions in all 16
the investigated cases. A cell located inside the window produces the lowest light 17
intensity and a cell facing north produces the lowest CO2 emissions.